Alan Roura: “Sailing is sometimes really thankless”

A Vendée Globe is a long time. Even very long. To the point of forgetting how long we left, without knowing when we will arrive. Sailing around the world is already quite an adventure in itself, so doing it by sail adds a little spice to the story! To do that with the simple force of the wind is something quite incredible.

And unpredictable, too. Because we remain dependent on the proper functioning of our boat, just like the wind blowing in our sails. And to really not make it simple when you can make it complicated, let’s add a few rules to all that to make the madness even crazier: solo, non-stop, without assistance and, of course, in a race!

But it is these rules that make the performance exceptional. Being alone with yourself, traveling around the world as difficult as possible, because as quickly as possible.

On board, you must therefore constantly be at the best performance of the boat, constantly keeping your eyes on the performance data to know what percentage of its potential you are at. And improve it.

Sometimes it’s also done by feeling, but the objective is the same: we always try to push the machine to its limit, because the neighbor on the water will inevitably want to push even harder! Honestly, we don’t get bored! It often borders on the limit of reasonableness and sometimes it’s a bit of a contest of whoever has the most guts…

My start to the race was difficult. It goes from the front and you tell yourself that it’s all over. Seeing some of the boats I wanted to play with fly away demoralized me a little but I quickly had a switch and went into warrior mode.

I knew that it would take time to climb back up, that I should never give up because my only objective was to climb back up place by place, until I got back to where I should be. So the whole initial plan, the whole strategy changes in the head.

In addition to the speed race, it turns into a bit of a poker game! We try to make others make mistakes, to wear them down, to push them to the limit. It’s a long job, but it pays off little by little. And after all the great South where I tore myself away, to come out already alive, and to move up, it was ultimately through a fairly committed strategic choice that I managed to come back. It was while going to face the big depression as I passed Cape Horn that I left those behind to catch up with those in front.

I did it because I knew that my boat was in good condition, and I had serious doubts about those of my direct competitors. So I decided to go there, see if they followed me. They preferred to wait for the bad weather to pass and that allowed me, first of all, to learn that the sailors and the boats were starting to get tired, but also to regain more than 1,200 km of distance on the boats in front. And to find myself at their side in 4 days.

Proudly, you tell yourself that you have achieved the success of your life, that you had excellent management of your boat and that you knew how to push it. But now, the wind is dropping and it’s all those in the fleet that I have overtaken, one by one for two months, who are coming back into the game. It’s clearly thankless, but that’s the thing. veil!

Now, there are still 8,000 km to go, they will surely be the longest of my life because it will be like resetting the counters to zero, for a new start.

Did you find an error? Please report it to us.

0 comments